Shadow Thief

Shadow Thief is a top-down stealth heist game set in a moonlit, art-deco city. Each night you break into a mansion, a museum, a bank, a casino and finally a creaking airship, and every building hides three pieces of loot: a bronze medallion, a silver trophy and the gold. The gold is the job, and the exit stays locked until it is in your bag. There are fifteen hand-built levels, three in each building, and each one opens when you finish the one before.

The guards are what make it a brain teaser. Each one walks a fixed route carrying a lantern, and you can see exactly where he is looking: the warm cone of light in front of him stops at walls, just like his eyes do. Step into it and a suspicion meter starts to fill. When it is full he gives chase, faster than you can run, and raises the alarm, which brings two more guards in for twenty seconds. Keep to the dark parts of the floor and guards only see half as far, and lockers and curtains hide you completely. A thrown coin pulls the nearest guard off his route to take a look, and two sleeping-dust darts per level put a guard to sleep for ten seconds. Further in, cameras sweep the rooms until you find the fuse box, laser grids blink on and off on a timer, and pressure plates open locked doors.

Most heists are quick, a minute or two once you have worked out the route, and getting caught just restarts the level. Every level has three stars: one for taking all three pieces of loot, one for never being spotted and one for beating the par time. Your best scores add up to a high score that is saved in your browser along with your stars and unlocked levels. Play with WASD or the arrow keys and two action keys, aim with the mouse, or use the on-screen joystick and buttons on a phone.